Ohio Gov. John Kasich and likely Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald, Cuyahoga County executive, to deliver major speeches on the same day: Michael K. McIntyre's Tipoff

Date of the state of the state: Coincidence or smart political thinking for Gov. John Kasich?Associated Press

Politics is war. Even the calendar can be used as a weapon.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced Friday that he would deliver his state of the state address – an annual speech that draws the attention of Ohio's media heavyweights – on Feb. 19. He wants the legislature to approve a special session in Lima, allowing him to deliver the speech outside the confines of the capital.

Sounds innocuous enough, until you consider that Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, widely thought to be the Democrats' choice to battle the governor next year, announced nearly two weeks ago that he planned his annual "State of the County" address on Feb. 19.

FitzGerald's event is at noon and Kasich's is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., so they don't conflict with one another. But clearly the governor's horning in on what might be an important day for his possible challenger. Who knows, by then – or even during that speech – FitzGerald might actually announce his candidacy.

FitzGerald said through his press office, "It's an interesting coincidence." He said that the date was picked last October.

The governor did not choose the conflicting date by design, said Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols.

"After we hit send on the release, that was the first I knew about it. It was not done for political reasons, it was done because that's the date that worked," said Nichols. "There are about 76 people who have announced they are considering a run for governor. We are bound to ruin someone's big day no matter what day we choose."

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGeraldLisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer

Almost two years from Election Day and without an announced opponent, Kasich still didn't miss an opportunity to strike an early campaign theme in his press release, noting that he hoped to deliver the address in Lima because: "Since January 2011, Allen County has experienced strong economic improvement, including an increase of 2,000 jobs in the Lima Metropolitan Area. Over the same amount of time, Allen County has gone from 10.8% unemployment down to 6.7, reflecting Ohio's strong economic resurgence and the importance of an improved environment for job creation via low taxes, streamlined regulations and a structurally balanced budget."

Ohio Senate President Keith Faber, a Republican whose district includes Lima, added in his own release: "We've got a great story to tell, and I know Governor Kasich has an incredible record and vision to share in this important address."

State Democratic Party Boss Chris Redfern praised the Lima choice facetiously: "Governor Kasich's selection of Lima for his State of the State speech is the perfect venue for a discussion about how anything short of fully reinstating his last round of cuts will be disastrous to firefighters, police, schools and working families."

What's the state of our state? Political.

They won't let it lie

Lance Armstrong tells Oprah he's a liar and a cheatAP/Courtesy of Harpo Studios

On the first day of the 2013 Tour de France, the Lake County Captains will host "Lancestrong" night at the ballpark.

There will be Livestrong Bracelet toss games, a spandex fashion show and other goofy promotions surrounding Lance Armstrong, the former cycling champion who is now an international disgrace. He admitted this week during an Oprah Winfrey interview that he doped, drugged and cheated his way to all of his seven Tour de France victories.

"This is a funny idea for a promotion around a news story that has been dominating the headlines. This is what minor league sports is about," said Captains General Manager Brad Seymour.

The Captains will donate $1 to the Livestrong cancer charity for every Livestrong bracelet worn to the game.

Seymour acknowledged the club is walking a fine line with its tongue-in-cheek promotion. Baseball has had its own embarrassing history with players who doped and cheated. Is that really something to be making light of?

"Doping is a sensitive topic and we have to be careful with how we tread," said Seymour. "And we want to make sure we're sensitive to the other side of this thing, which is Livestrong, which has done a lot for cancer research."

But Armstrong's cover-up and years of lies? Expect that to become part of the night's festivities.

"We didn't put any of that in the press release because we literally came up with the idea yesterday," Seymour said Friday. "These are initial ideas. We came up with others, but those pushed the envelope too far. But we've been brainstorming today and I am pretty sure there will be elements that come up that night that deal with the lying."

The night will start with a taped recording of Sheryl Crow singing the National Anthem. Crow is Armstrong's ex-girlfriend.

"We want to make sure we do it in a sensitive nature," Seymour said. "We can have fun with it, but we are not going to offend anybody."

Except Armstrong, maybe. Or those who see this as celebrating Armstrong. Or Crow. Or anyone forced to look at Captains fans wearing Spandex.

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